The present invention is directed towards providing location services to users in a communication network. More particularly, the present invention provides a system and method for reporting change of area event at the network side for an electronic communication device such as mobile phone for a predetermined location.
Electronic communication devices such as mobile phones are being widely used to facilitate wireless communication among users. Mobile phones use various mobile technologies such as Global System for Mobile Communication (GSM), Universal Mobile Telecommunication System (UMTS) and Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) to serve users. Generally, mobile phones are used to provide call and messaging services to users. However, with advent of technology, mobile phones are also being used to provide location services to users.
Some mobile phones comprise Location Service (LCS) client to provide location services to users. LCS Client is a software and/or hardware entity that interacts with an LCS Server for obtaining location information of one or more mobile phones in a network. An LCS Client can generate two types of location service requests, immediate location request and deferred location request. When a user wants to know immediate location of a target mobile phone, LCS Client of the user generates an immediate location request.
In deferred location request, an LCS Client requests for location of a target mobile phone at a time of occurrence of one or more predefined events. An example of deferred location request is requesting for a location report when change of area event occurs for a target mobile phone for a predetermined location. Change of area event occurs for the target mobile phone when it enters/stays/leaves a predetermined location.
An LCS Client sends an LCS request to a target mobile phone for reporting change of area event for a predetermined location. The target mobile phone sends a location update report to the LCS Client when it enters/leaves/stays at the predetermined location. However, only those mobile phones can send a location update report to LCS Client in which change of area event technology is embedded. The change of area event technology is expensive and is not embedded in all existing mobile phones. Further, majority of old-fashioned mobile phones does not have change of area event technology. As a result, the above-mentioned mobile phones are not able to serve a request for a change of area event.
In light of the abovementioned disadvantages, there is a need for a method and system that facilitates reporting of change of area event for mobile phones which does not have change of area event functionality. Further, there is a need for a method and system that is capable of sending location update report to LCS Client whenever a change of area event occurs for the mobile phone using existing mobile networks. Furthermore, there is a need for a system and method where the change of area event can be supported at the network side irrespective of user equipment.